Attachment for attaching mobile device to user&#39;s arm

ABSTRACT

An attachment which attaches a mobile device to user&#39;s arm includes a mobile case further including an accommodating part which accommodates the mobile device, an access member which is operable so that the mobile is put into and taken out of the accommodation, and a window which is formed so as to correspond to a display or an operating portion of the mobile device. The attachment further includes a band capable of being wound on user&#39;s arm thereby to be attached to user&#39;s arm. The mobile case includes a first engagement portion attaching the mobile case to the band, and the band includes a second engagement portion engageable with the first engagement portion of the mobile case

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-215313 filed on Sep. 29, 2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an attachment for attaching a mobile device such as smart phone (multifunctional mobile phone) to user's arm.

2. Related. Art

A mobile device such as smart phone is operated while being grasped by user's hand. However, for example, a motorcycle rider would have a difficulty in operating the mobile device since he or she needs to keep his or her hands on the wheel.

Furthermore, the rider has many occasions to use his or her mobile device to utilize a navigation system. On each occasion, the rider needs to take his or her mobile device out of a bag or the like to operate the mobile device, with the result that such operation of the mobile device is troublesome.

SUMMARY

An object of the disclosure is to provide an attachment for attaching a mobile device to driver's arm, which excels in the convenience that the mobile device can be used more easily even when both hands are basically closed.

The present disclosure provides an attachment which attaches a mobile device to user's arm, comprising a mobile case including an accommodating part which accommodates the mobile, the mobile including a display or an operating portion; an access member which is operable so that the mobile device is put into and taken out of the accommodating part; and a window which is formed so as to correspond to the display or the operating portion of the mobile device. The attachment further includes a band capable of being wound on user's arm thereby to be attached to user's arm. In the attachment, the mobile case includes a first engagement portion attaching the mobile case to the band, and the band includes a second engagement portion engageable with the first engagement portion of the mobile case.

According to the above-described attachment, since the mobile device is retained on the attachment attached to the arm of the rider, he or she need not take the mobile device out of his or her hag every time of use even when he or she has no hand free. Consequently, the rider can easily use his or her mobile device with his or her hand opposite the arm on which is the mobile is retained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a band employed in an attachment for attaching a mobile device to user's arm, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rear side of a mobile case of the attachment;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the mobile case;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a second engagement portion, explaining a turning mechanism and a locking mechanism;

FIG. 5 is also an exploded perspective view of the second engagement portion as viewed at a different angle from FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the attachment to explain the usage of the attachment of the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the attachment to explain the usage state;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the second engagement portion, showing another embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the second engagement portion, showing the second embodiment; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the attachment of further another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. An attachment 1 includes a mobile case and a band 6 which is capable of being wound on user's arm thereby to be fastened to user's arm. The mobile case 5 includes an accommodating part 2 which accommodates a mobile device such as smart phone, an access member 3 which is operable so that the mobile device is put into and taken out of the accommodating part 2 and a window 4 which is formed so as to correspond to a display or an operating portion neither of which is shown. The mobile case 5 is formed with a first engagement portion 7 provided for attaching the mobile case 5 to the band 6, and the band 6 includes a second engagement portion 8 engageable with the first engagement portion 7 of the mobile case 5.

The attachment 1 will be described in more detail. The attachment 1 is adapted to be fastened to user's antebrachial region as shown in FIG. 8. The attachment 1 includes the mobile case 5 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and the band 6 which is used to fasten the mobile case 5 to user's antebrachial region, as shown in FIG. 1.

The mobile case 5 is formed of generally parallelepiped cloth or soft resin and has the accommodating part 2 into which the mobile device is to be accommodated, as shown in FIG. 2. The aforementioned cloth or soft resin has substantially the same configuration as the mobile device and slightly lager dimensions than the mobile device. The mobile case 5 has a sidewall further having the access member 3 (the fastener in the embodiment) extending along a central part of the sidewall. The access member 3 is openable and closable so that the mobile device is put into and taken out of the accommodating part 2 through the access member 3.

The window 4 is formed in the front side of the mobile case 5 so as to positionally correspond to a display or an operating portion of the mobile device to be accommodated in the accommodating part 2, as shown in FIG. 3. When the mobile device has been accommodated in the accommodating part 2, the window 4 renders the display of the mobile device visible therethrough at the outside of the mobile case 5. Furthermore, the mobile device is operated through the window 4. Although the window 4 includes a transparent resin or the like attached thereto in the embodiment, the accommodating part 2 may be exposed without use of the transparent resin, which encompasses the scope of the embodiment.

The first engagement portion 7 is formed on the rear side of the mobile case 5 as shown in FIG. 2. The first engagement portion 7 serves to join the band 6 to the mobile case 5 thereby to attach the mobile case 5 to the band 6. The first engagement portion 7 is formed substantially into a trapezoidal shape so as to slightly protrude toward the rear side of the mobile case 5 in the vicinity of a central part of the rear side of the mobile case 5.

The second engagement portion 8 of the band 6 is formed with generally L-shaped hooks 9 a and 9 b and a retaining convex portion 10. The first engagement potion 7 has three juxtaposed concave strips 11 e, 11 b and 11 c all of which extend vertically and into which the hooks 9 a and 9 b and the convex portion 10 are insertable, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 8. As a result, the first engagement portion 7 is configured to reliably be fixed to the second engagement portion 30 having one or two L-shaped hooks (the second engagement portion 30 having one L-shaped hook 31 as shown in FIG. 9 and the second engagement portion 8 having two L-shaped hooks 9 a and 9 b as shown in FIGS. 1 and 8).

More specifically, when the second engagement portion 30 having the single L-shaped hook 31 as shown in FIG. 9 is to be attached to the band 6, the L-shaped hook 31 and a retaining convex portion 32 are inserted into a central one 11 b of the three juxtaposed concave grooves 11 a to 11 c, whereby the mobile case 5 is fixed to the band 6. Consequently, the mobile case 5 can be fixed to the central part of the band 6 with balance.

On the other hand, when the second engagement portion 8 having the two L-shaped hooks 9 a and 9 b is to be attached to the band 6, the L-shaped hooks 9 a and 9 b are inserted into both side grooves 11 a and 11 c respectively and the retaining convex portion 10 is inserted into the central groove 11 b, whereby the mobile case 5 is fixed to the band 6.

All the grooves 11 a, 11 b and 11 c have the sans shape, and the groove 11 b is located in the central part of the first engagement portion 7. Furthermore, the other grooves 11 a and 11 c are located so as to be equally spaced from the central groove 11 b. Consequently, the mobile case 5 can be fixed to the central part or the band 6 with balance.

The band 6 is wound on the antebrachial region of the user as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and is formed of the resin or formed of cloth into a hand shape as shown in FIG. 1. The hand 6 includes a first hook-and-loop fastener 12 a disposed on one end surface thereof and second and third hook-and-loop fasteners 12 b and 12 c disposed on the other end back side thereof. The band 6 also includes an elongate opening 13 through which the first hook-and-loop fastener 12 a inserted and a locking hook-and-loop fastener 14 which is engageable with the first, second and third hook-and-loop fasteners 12 a, 12 b and 12 c thereby to lock these fasteners 12 a-12 c. The band 6 further includes the second engagement portion 8 and two attaching portions 15 a and 15 b for detachably attaching the second engagement portion 8 to the band 6.

When the band 6 is to be wound on user's arm, the first hook-and-loop fastener 12 a is inserted through the elongate opening 13 and subsequently folded back to be locked to the locking hook-and-loop fastener 14. The second and third hook-and-loop fasteners 12 b and 12 c are also wound on user's antebrachial region to directly be locked to the locking fastener 14. Thus, since the first to third hook-and-loop fasteners 12 a-12 c are each elongated in the lengthwise direction of the band 6 thereby to be formed into an elongate shape, the inner diameter of the band 6 is adjustable according to the size of user's antebrachial region.

The second engagement portion 8 is engaged with the first engagement portion 7 so that the mobile case 5 is attached to the band 6. In the embodiment, the second engagement portion 8 includes the L-shaped hooks 9 a and 9 b and the retaining convex portion 10. Both end sides 8 a and 8 b of the second engagement portion 8 are inserted into the attaching portions 15 a and 15 b respectively so that the second engagement portion 8 is detachably attached to the band 6. As a result, the second engagement portion 8 is changeable among the second engagement portion 8 having the L-shaped hooks 9 a and 9 b and the retaining convex portion 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 8 and the second engagement portion 30 having a universal joint 41 as shown in FIG. 10.

The second engagement portion 30 as shown in FIG. 10 has a connector 42 and a connector support 43 The connector 42 includes a plate-shaped base 46 having two L-shaped hooks 44 a and 44 b. The connector 42 has a proximal end mounted with a spherical universal joint 47 which renders the connector 42 turnable in a range of wide angle. The connector support 43 includes a swivel bearing which supports the universal joint 47. When the second engagement portion 40 is attached to the attaching portion 15 and engaged with the first engagement portion 7 so that the mobile case 5 is attached to the band 6, the connector 42 is three-dimensionally turnable by the action of the universal joint 47. As a result, the direction of the mobile device is three-dimensionally adjustable so that the user is easy to operate the mobile device.

Furthermore, the second engagement portion 8 of the band 6 is provided with a turning mechanism for turning the mobile case 5 on the band 6 and a locking mechanism which deters the mobile case 5 from rotation on the band 6. More specifically, the second engagement potion 8 includes a stationary side plate 16 and a turning side plate 17, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6. The stationary side plate 16 is fixed to an attachment groove 18 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 8. The turning side plate 17 has the L-shaped hooks 9 a and 9 b and the retaining convex portion 10 and is rotatably mounted on the stationary side plate 15 via a small screw 19 and an elastic member (spring) 20 located at the rear side of the stationary side plate 16. Thus, the turning side plate 17 and the stationary side plate 16 constitute the turning mechanism which is configured to turn the mobile device on the band 8, whereby the mobile device is adjustable to a direction in which the user can easily operate the same.

The stationary side plate 16 has a cylindrical portion 21 as shown in FIG. 4. The cylindrical portion 21 includes a first radially-extending concavo-convex portion 22 formed on a front thereof. On the other hand, the turning side plate 17 has a second radially-extending concavo-convex portion 23 which is mesh-engageable with the first concavo-convex portion 22, as shown in FIG. 5. When the second concavo-convex portion 23 is brought into mesh engagement with the first concavo-convex portion 22, a locking mechanism is constituted by the plates 16 and 17. Thus, a relative positional relationship is maintained between the plates 16 and 17, whereupon both plates 16 and 17 can be locked so that the mobile device is adjustable to a direction in which the user can easily operate the same.

The second engagement portion 8 of the band 6 has the turning mechanism which is configured to turn the mobile case 5 on the band 6 and the locking mechanism in the foregoing embodiment. However, the first engagement portion 7 of the mobile case 5 may be provided with the turning mechanism and the locking mechanism, instead. Further alternatively, the turning mechanism and the locking mechanism may be provided between the first and second engagement portions. The embodiment encompasses these modifications.

The usage of the attachment 1 will now be described. Firstly, the band 6 as shown in FIG. 1 is wound on user's antebrachial region by engaging the first to third hook-and-loop fasteners 12 a to 12 c with the locking hook-and-loop fastener 14, as shown in FIG. 8. Next, the first engagement portion 7 formed on the rear of the mobile case 5 is engaged with the second engagement portion 8 of the band 6, so that the mobile case 5 is attached to the hand 6. When the user wishes to turn the mobile device so that the mobile device is adjusted to a direction in which he or she can easily operate the same, the user grasps the mobile case 5 to slightly pull the same frontward and turn the same. The turning side plate 17 is turned relative to the stationary side plate whereby the mobile device can desirably be directed. Furthermore, when the user releases his or her hand from the mobile case 5 directed desirably, the turning side plate 17 is slightly moved toward the stationary side plate 15 by the action of the elastic member (the spring) 20 thereby to be retained in a stopped state by the locking mechanism which includes the first and second concavo-convex portions 22 and 23 and located between the plates 16 and 17.

In the above-described attachment 1, the mobile case 5 is attachable to the band 6 wound on user's arm. The motorcycle rider need not take the mobile device out of his or her bag every time of use even when he or she has no hand free. Consequently, the rider can easily use the mobile device with his or her hand opposite the arm on which is the mobile device is held and retain the mobile device in a desirable direction.

Another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 11. Although the band 6 of the attachment 1 is wound on user's antebrachial region in the foregoing embodiment, an attachment 50 of the second embodiment includes a band 51 wound on user's wrist. The band 51 has a double structure and includes a lower band-shaped member 52 and a belt 53 located over the band-shaped member 52. The belt 53 has one end 53 a near which the belt 53 is sewn onto the band-shaped member 52.

The band-shaped member 52 serves to stably attach the mobile case 5 to the band 51. The band-shaped member 52 has a larger width than the belt 53 and is formed of an elastic material such as rubber. The band-shaped member 52 has one end 52 a having an underside provided with a hook-and-loop fastener 54 and the other end 52 b having a surface provided with another hook-and-loop fastener 55. On the other hand, a female buckle 56 a is mounted on the other end 53 a of the belt 53. A male buckle 56 b is mounted on the other end 53 b of the belt 53. The belt 53 is inserted through insertion holes 57 a and 57 b of the stationary side plate 57 in turn thereby to retain the stationary side plate 57 near the central part of the belt 53. A turning side plate 58 having a generally L-shaped hook 58 a and a retaining convex portion 58 b is turnably attached to the stationary side plate 57 in the same manner as in the foregoing mobile device mounting fixture 10 The plates 57 and 58 constitute the second engagement portion 59.

In use of the above-described attachment 50, the user firstly winds the band-shaped member 52 on his or her wrist. The hook-and-loop fastener 54 provided on the underside of the end 52 a of the band-shaped member 52 is then applied to the hook-and-loop fastener 55 provided on the surface of the end 52 b of the band-shaped member 52, whereby the band-shaped member 52 is attached to the wrist of the user. Subsequently, the male buckle 56 b mounted on the end 53 b of the belt 53 is engaged with the female buckle 56 a mounted on the end 53 a of the belt 53, whereby the belt 53 is attached to user's wrist. In this state, the first engagement portion 7 of the mobile case 5 having the same form as in the attachment 1 is engaged with the second engagement portion 59 and the mobile device is attached to the band 51. Furthermore, when the use desires to turn the mobile device so that the mobile device is directed so as to be easily operated by the user, the mobile case 5 is grasped to be turned, whereupon the turning side plate 58 is turned relative to the stationary side plate 57 such that the mobile device can desirably be directed and such that the mobile device can be maintained in the stopped state by the locking mechanism configured between the plates 57 and 58.

Thus, since the attachment 50 is attached to user's wrist but not to user's antebrachial region, the mobile device can be used lust like having a wristwatch on. The disclosure encompasses the mobile holder attached to user's wrist.

The foregoing description and drawings are merely illustrative of the present disclosure and are not to be construed in a limiting sense. Various changes and modifications will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. All such changes and modifications are seen to fall within the scope of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An attachment which attaches a mobile device to user's arm, comprising: a mobile case including: an accommodating part which accommodates the mobile, the mobile including a display or an operating portion; an access member which is operable so that the mobile device is put into and taken out of the accommodating part; and a window which is formed so as to correspond to the display or the operating portion of the mobile device; and a band capable of being wound on user's arm thereby to be attached to user's arm, wherein the mobile case includes a first engagement portion attaching the mobile case to the band, and the band includes a second engagement portion engageable with the first engagement portion of the mobile case.
 2. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein the first or second engagement portion is provided with a turning mechanism which turns the mobile case on the band.
 3. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein the first or second engagement portion is provided with a locking mechanism which deters the mobile case from turn on the band.
 4. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein the first and second engagement portions are engaged with each other by a universal joint.
 5. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein the band is wound on a wrist of the user thereby to be attached to the wrist. 